Promotion of Learning in India during Muhammadan Rule (by Muhammadans) c12.s10: 10. Bengal

Promotion of Learning in India during Muhammadan Rule (by Muhammadans) c12.s10

Language: English

10. Bengal

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The colleges built by Bakhtiyār Khiljī have been referred to in another connection.

Governor Ghiyāṣuddīn (1212-27 A.D.) built a superb mosque, a college and a caravansarai at Lucknauti soon after his election to the *masnad* of Bengal. He was a liberal encourager of arts and literature, and bestowed ample pensions upon the learned.⁴ Rajah Kānis (1385-92) granted pensions to the learned Muhammadans during the short time that he ruled Bengal. His motive

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⁴ Stewart's *History of Bengal*, pp. 56, 57.

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for the bestowal of such stipends was not, however, the promotion of learning pure and simple, but was mixed up with an ulterior political purpose.¹

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¹ Stewart's *History of Bengal*, p. 94.

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The efforts of the rulers of Bengal were not confined to the promotion of Muhammadan learning alone, for they also directed their fostering care for the advancement of letters into a new channel, which is of particular interest to the Bengali-speaking people. It may seem to them an anomaly that their language should owe its elevation to a literary status not to themselves but to the Muhammadans, whose interest in it was at first evoked by merely a sense of the curious, and was indirectly roused by its connection with Sanskrit, which formed a most cherished treasure of the vast Hindu population with whom they had to come into frequent contact. It was the epics—the *Ramāyāṇa* and the *Mahābhārata*—that first attracted the notice of the Muhammadan rulers of Bengal, at whose instance they were translated into Bengali—the language of their domicile. The first Bengali rendering of the *Mahābhārata* was ordered by Nāṣir Ṣhāh of Bengal (1282-1325 A.D.), who was a great patron of the vernacular of the province, and whom the great poet Vidyāpati has immortalized by dedicating to him one of his songs. Vidyāpati also makes a respectful reference to Sulṭān Ghiyāṣuddīn, most probably Sulṭān Ghiyāṣuddīn II

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of Bengal (1367-73 A.D.). [See Stewart's list of independent Kings of Bengal.]

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Moreover, we learn from the *Riyāẓu-s-Salāṭīn* that this Sulṭān was himself a poet, and once composed a verse which no one in his Court could make into a couplet. It was then sent to the famous poet Ḥāfiẓ, at Shīrāz, who, at the very sight of it, supplied the complementary verse.¹ Sulṭān Ghiyāṣuddin’s tutor of theology was Ḥamīduddīn of Nagore. The only fellow-student with whom he studied was the saint Quṭbul ’Ālam.² It is doubtful whether a Muslim ruler of Bengal or the Hindu Rājā Kansa Nārāyaṇa appointed Kīrttivāsa to translate the *Rāmāyaṇa* into Bengali; even if the latter story be true, it is undoubted that Muslim precedents influenced the action of the Rājā.³

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¹ English translation of *Riyāẓu-s-Salāṭīn* by ’Abdul Salām (*Bibl. Indica*), p. 109; Stewart’s *History of Bengal*, pp. 92, 93.

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² Stewart’s *History of Bengal*, p. 111.

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³ For the above information (p. 107 also), see Mr. Dinesh Chandra Sen’s *History of Bengali Literature* (1911), pp. 10-12, 140, and 222.

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Near the village of ’Umārpūr there is a spot called *Darasbārī*, or the College. A very large inscription of the time of Yūsuf Shāh (dated 1479 A.D.), found at the place, refers to the building of a Masjid. “It is, however, very probable that the Masjid may have been attached to the college, as the stone is much too heavy to have been moved from its original site.”⁴ Many a madrasah like

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⁴ *Archaeological Survey Report*, vol. xv, p. 76.

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the present one is fast losing all its marks by which it can be identified as such. The madrasah, for instance, which was built by the Musalmāns at Asthipura (Place of Bones), where, it is said, the bodies of all the slain in the eighteen days' battle between the Kauravas and the Pāṇḍavas were collected and burnt, has already disappeared, leaving but a mound which can be recognized as the remnant of a college only by its name of Madrasah-Tilā.¹

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¹ *Archaeological Survey Report*, vol. xiv, p. 98.

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Emperor Ḥusain Shāh was a great patron of Bengali. Mālādhar Basu was appointed by him to translate the *Bhāgavata Purāṇa* into Bengali.² We also learn that he founded a college as a memorial to the famous saint Quṭbul 'Ālam, as will be found from the following extract:—

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² Mr. Dinesh Chandra Sen's *Hist. of Bengali Litr.* (1911), pp. 14-12 and 222.

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"Amongst the numerous instances of his piety, he settled a grant of lands for the support of the tomb, college and hospital of the celebrated saint Quṭbul 'Ālam, which are continued to this day, and every year made a pilgrimage on foot from Akḍālā to Pāṇḍuyā to visit the holy shrine of the saint."³

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³ Stewart's *History of Bengal*, p. 113.

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There were ruins of a quadrangular building on the north bank of the Sāgar Dighī (a reservoir) in Gour, which are said to have been a madrasah probably built by Ḥusain Shāh. From the ruins it

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can be seen that the madrasah was of elegant shape and considerable size, and built of marble and granite different in character from those found in any other part of Gour.¹

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¹ Ravenshaw’s *Gour*, p. 34; and Blochmann’s contribution to *J.A.S.B.*, vol. xliii, pt. 1, p. 303.

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In his *Khurshīd-Jahān-Numāh*, Ilāhī Bakhsh-al-Ḥusainī mentions a madrasah in Ghūrāshāhīd, a quarter in Gour, in the neighbourhood of the residence of Ghulām Ḥusain, the well-known author of the *Riyāzul-Salāṭīn*.² An inscription ascribed to the madrasah mentions the founder as Ḥusain Shāh.³

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² *Khurshīd-Jahān-Numāh*, by Sayyid Ilāhī Bakhsh-al-Ḥusainī Āngrezābādī, MS. in ASB, pp. 130, 131. This madrasah is also mentioned in *Khurshīd-Jahān-Numāh* (translation of its fragments in *J.A.S.B.*, 1895, p. 198).

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³ The inscription is as follows :—" The Prophet (God’s blessings on him) has said, ‘Search after knowledge and if it were in China.’ This excellent Madrasah was ordered to be built by the great and generous King, the Sayyid of the Sayyids, the source of auspiciousness. . . . ’Alā’uddunyā Wauddīn Abul Muzaffar Ḥusain Shāh the King, the Ḥusainī—may God perpetuate his kingdom, for the teaching of the sciences of religion and instruction in those orders which alone are true . . . On the 1st Ramazān, 907 A.H. (10th March, 1502 A.D.)."—Ravenshaw’s *Gour*, p. 80.

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Parāgal Khān, a general of Ḥusain Shāh, and Parāgal’s son Chhuṭi Khān, have made themselves immortal by associating their names with the Bengali translation of a portion of the *Mahābhārata*.⁴

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⁴ Mr. Dinesh Chandra Sen’s *Hist. of Bengali Lit.*, p. 12.

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Parāgal Khān used to invite his courtiers every evening to his palace at Parāgalpūr in Feni, to hear

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the recitation of the Bengali *Mahābhārata* by the translator Kavīndra Parameśvara. Under Parāgal, the epic was translated up to the *Strī Parva*, but Chhuṭi Khān, who succeeded Parāgal in the governorship of Chittagong, followed up the work by appointing a poet named Śrīkaraṇa Nandī, whom he ordered to translate the *Aśvamedha Parva*.

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Examples of Bengali translation of Sanskrit and Persian books at the instance of Musalmān chiefs are not rare. They served to remove the supercilious spirit in which Bengali was looked upon by the Sanskrit-loving Brāhmaṇas and the Hindu Rājās. The latter imitated the Muhammadan rulers and chiefs in giving their patronage to Bengali writers, and the institution of keeping "Bengali court-poets" grew into a fashion. Many distinguished Bengali poets and writers have since adorned the Courts of Hindu Rājās, which raised Bengali to a high place in the estimation of the people and made it a rival of the languages that had already established their footing.¹

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¹ Mr. Dinesh Chandra Sen's *Hist. of Bengali Litr.*, p. 14.

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Nawāb Murshid Qulī Ja’far Khān (1704-25 A.D.) "possessed very extensive learning and paid great respect to men who were eminent for their piety or erudition : he wrote with great elegance, and was a remarkably fine penman."² Every morning

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² Stewart's *History of Bengal*, p. 408.

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he spent some time in copying the *Qur'ān*, so that every year he sent *Qur'āns* of his own writing with valuable offerings to Mecca, Medina and other holy places. "He maintained above two thousand readers, bards and chanters, who were constantly employed in reading the *Qur'ān* and in other acts of devotion."¹

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¹ Stewart's *History of Bengal*, p. 406; *vide* also 'Abdul Salām's *Riyāzul-Salāṭīn*, p. 279.

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About this time there was a very liberal Zemindar at Birbhum named Asadullāh. He dedicated half of his income to the support of the learned and other charitable purposes.²

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² Stewart's *History of Bengal*, p. 371; 'Abdul Salām's *Riyāzul-Salāṭīn*, p. 257.

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The *Siyarul-Mutaakhkhirīn* says that 'Alīwardī Khān was a lover of learning, and on quitting 'Āzīmābād, invited to his Court men of learning, whom he requested to live in Murshidābād his capital, and for whom he fixed large stipends. One of them was Mīr Muḥammad 'Alī, another was Ḥusain Khān. Tākī Qulī Khān, 'Alī Ibrāhīm Khān, Ḥājī Muḥammad Khān, were also of the number.³ Mīr Muḥammad 'Alī possessed a library of two thousand volumes.⁴

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³ *Siyarul-Mutaakhkhirīn*, by Sayyid Ghulām Ḥusain Khān (English transl.), vol. ii, pp. 69, 70 and 165 ff.

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⁴ *Ibid.*, p. 63 n.

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Mīr Qāsim, it appears, encouraged a few learned the Athenians, who were already in the city, were not aware of the plot, but when they saw the Plataeans fighting, they did not wish to attack them, as they were friends, but when they saw that they were being attacked and killed in the city, they were at a loss what to do. They decided to run to the citadel, and some of them escaped there, while others were killed in the streets as they were caught by the Thebans. The women and slaves were screaming and wailing in the houses, and the Thebans, who were in the city, were throwing stones at them, as the confusion was great. In the meantime, the rest of the Thebans, who were outside, hearing the shouting, rushed into the city to help their comrades.

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Kāṭrā Madrasah (Murshidābād) built by Ja'far Khān. (From W. Hodges' Select Views in India, 1785.) [For description see ibid., as also Hodges' Travels in India, 1780-83.]

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The Plataeans, seeing that they were being attacked by the Thebans, and that the Thebans were already in the city, were in great fear. They opened the gates of the city, and let the Athenians, who were in the citadel, come out, and they also let the rest of the Plataeans, who were in the houses, come out. They then attacked the Thebans, and as they were fighting in the dark, and in the narrow streets, the Thebans were at a disadvantage. The Plataeans, who knew the city well, were able to attack them from the houses, and from the roofs, and they were able to kill many of them. The Thebans, seeing that they were being defeated, tried to escape, but the gates were closed, and they were trapped. Some of them climbed over the walls, and others were killed as they tried to escape.

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The Plataeans, having defeated the Thebans, sent a messenger to Athens to tell them what had happened, and to ask for help. The Athenians, hearing the news, sent a force to Plataea, and they also sent a message to the Thebans, telling them that if they did not release the prisoners, they would kill the Thebans who were in their hands. The Thebans, fearing for their men, agreed to release the prisoners, and the Plataeans, having received their men, released the Thebans. This was the beginning of the war between the Athenians and the Peloponnesians.

Linked texts (5)

Bhāgavatapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit
Riyāẓ al-salāṭīn — Ghulām Ḥusain Salīm Zaidpūrī 1786, Persian
Mahābhārata — Vyāsa, Sanskrit
Vālmīkirāmāyaṇa — Vālmīki, Sanskrit
Charminar